Is Another Title in UConn's Future?

UConn was expected to retool its lineup after losing four starters from last year's national championship team. The belief was, if ever there was a year the Huskies could be had, this was it.

Wrong.

Just as Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara helped bring Syracuse men's coach Jim Boeheim his first NCAA title, UConn's freshmen came through for their team _ in a big way.

Ann Strother, Barbara Turner and Willnett Crockett helped the Huskies (37-1) win their third national title in four years and fourth overall.

And even more important, every UConn player is back next season. All of them _ Strother, Turner, Crockett, Diana Taurasi, Jessica Moore, the whole bunch.

It almost seems unfair.

"I don't know what the limit is anymore," coach Geno Auriemma said. "I watched my good friend Jim Boeheim win a national championship and he's been coaching 100 years, and he finally got what every coach in America dreams of.

"Here I am sitting here, for us to have four of them, and thinking you know, now I've got to do more than that."

There are no guarantees, of course. Injuries or complacency could spoil everything.

But after beating Tennessee 73-68 in Tuesday night's championship game, the Huskies will begin the 2003-04 season as the overwhelming favorites to make it three straight and win a fifth title overall.

"It feels good that we'll begin the year with the same nucleus," Taurasi said. "We can build on what we did this year. Hopefully, we will continue to get better."

UConn has the talent to make it happen, starting with Taurasi, voted the most outstanding player in the Final Four. She scored 28 points against Tennessee, matching the second-highest total in a championship game, and averaged 26.2 for the NCAA tournament.

The freshmen played key roles all season and Strother scored 17 in the title game. A fourth freshman, Nicole Wolff, will be back after missing all but 10 games because of a foot injury. And Auriemma's recruiting class will bring two key elements _ size and quickness.

Heading that class is 6-foot-5 Liz Sherwood, who was a high school teammate of Strother's in Castle Rock, Colo. Guards Kiana Robinson and Kia Wright also will come on board.

"In Connecticut, they're going to expect us to be good," Auriemma said.

This season's team was better than anyone had a right to expect. The Huskies started 31-0 to run their winning streak to 70 games, an NCAA women's record. Then, they lost to Villanova in the finals of the Big East tournament.

The loss devastated the players, but Auriemma thought it was just what his team needed.

"Maybe what it did was give us a sense of look, we are starting to let things slip a little bit," he said. "We needed to be really slapped in the face with reality in a huge game by a team we have beat for 10 straight years, every single year.

"It kind of refocused us when we got back home."

Tennessee, still the leader with six national titles, might have a harder time getting back to the Final Four.

The Lady Vols' two best players, Kara Lawson and Gwen Jackson, were seniors. Coach Pat Summitt still has plenty of talent, but someone has to fill the Taurasi role and lead.

This was the third time a season ended with Connecticut and Tennessee meeting in the title game, and UConn has won all three. Between them, the Huskies and Lady Vols have claimed seven of the last nine NCAA titles. There may be more parity in women's basketball, but all of the teams that are so even still haven't caught the two at the top.

"Everybody hates us," UConn's Ashley Battle said. "Nobody likes us and nobody thought we could win. So, we went out there and proved everyone wrong."